The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

L.A.:
Getting Rich off Housing for the Homeless

Mar 2, 2020

Early in January, the first apartment building to house homeless and low-income people in Los Angeles was finally opened—three years after Proposition HHH, which is providing a $1.2 billion bond to fund 112 such housing projects, was approved by L.A. voters.

This first 62-unit project cost $34 million, making the construction cost of each apartment unit nearly $550,000. According to HomeGuide.com, the average construction cost of a home on the West Coast is around $260,000. And a home in South Los Angeles, where the housing project is located, sells at around $520,000 on average, according to Zillow.com. That is, the construction cost of an apartment unit for a homeless family is more than twice as expensive as that of a home, and even more expensive than the sales price of a home in the same neighborhood!

No, these housing projects are not built to provide housing to people who immediately need it. This is another way for city politicians to funnel money to developers, banks and construction companies and their already rich owners.